MarkD51
Active member
- Oct 15, 2012
- 3,130
- 0
As soon as you start talking about waxes and how they "look different", some people make the leap to waxes "fix defects". If you say you used wax Y and you thought it looked better than wax Z, they want to assume you mean "wax Y is all you need to put on any paint to make it look perfect".
In other words, if you comment on the subtle difference between waxes, they assume (incorrectly) that you mean you can just negate all the prep work and use wax Y. Or, because if you buff out a car and it looks great, no wax could possibly improve or alter the look of their hard work.
I think most of us agree its all the prep work and polishing that makes the paint look great. But for some people it has to end there, because they can't wrap their head around anything altering the look of the paint beyond correcting the paint.
You can easily see correction, but differences in waxes are subtle, but they do exist. Obviously your looking at paint through a film of some measurable thickness. That film is not 100% clear (just look in your wax tin - can you see the bottom?).
I agree with what you say, you have brought up some good points to ponder, and while I have suggested one product, Collinite, this brand may not be optimal in certain applications.
The same could probably be said about any LSP product, whether Carnauba, or Synthetic, and the costs of such products would not have any bearing as to its final results.
An example perhaps, as a professional detailer, let's take our own forum expert Mike Phillips, whom which has probably forgotten more than I know. We see Mike's jaw dropping work on a regular basis here, and his virtual unlimited selection of products used in each instance.
Now, due to Mike's experience, he pretty much knows his way around the block quite well, but can even Mike predict what Chemical Guys, or Poor Boys, or EXO, or Midnight Sun, or the rest will do to a paint system "before" he uses it?
Will that particular "Y" product have been the best choice, and that "X" product would've given even better results? Of course there's personal tastes also.
We all often hear about how some certain brand Sealants look "Plasticky", and that while some folks really like this hard sterile glassy look, others do not?
As you've mentioned, and reminded, prep prior to any LSP will be paramount to getting the best final results.